Social trading platform developer and broker eToro has unveiled to Finance Magnates a one of a kind partnership with the biggest Russian lender, Sberbank. The companies are going to form a joint venture to provide the services of eToro to Russian investors.

The CEO of eToro, Yoni Assia, stated to Finance Magnates: “We are very excited to have Sberbank as one of the investors in eToro, and partnering in eToro Russia – we believe that with our innovative technology and global leadership in social trading and Sberbank’s huge business and amazing brand in Russia we will build the largest social trading network in the country.”

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Commenting on the matter, the CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank Herman Gref said: “The cooperation between Sberbank and eToro will empower our clients to use the skills of the social trading community at the brokerage.”

“eToro’s platform has a convenient and user friendly interface which is presenting to our clients an opportunity to trade on the financial markets using the knowledge of experienced traders. We are planning on establishing the joint venture which opens access for Russian clients before the end of this year,” he concluded.

The partnership is one of the most notable deals in the foreign exchange industry when we look at the scale of the Russian bank in the country. About one third of all assets in the Russian banking sector are held at Sberbank. It also has the biggest market share of deposits, which can be a massive gateway for growth of the company.

The deal was also mentioned in the late night news on the main state owned TV channel in Russia, which is a first not only for a social trading company, but for an FX industry player.